


Live Eternal in Spring

by retrovertigo (ellameno)



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Bittersweet, Brotherhood, Canonical Character Death, Drabble, Families of Choice, Found Family, Gen, Hope, Male-Female Friendship, Post-Canon, War Boys and Pups, many mentions of Nux though he does not appear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-02 10:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4057348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellameno/pseuds/retrovertigo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Capable and the War Pups honor Nux's memory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Live Eternal in Spring

_Nux is dead._

That is the second thought through her mind when Capable first enters the Citadel, a free woman.

She notices the tiny War Pups gazing at her curiously. She sees ghosts of Nux in their pale painted faces. When she speaks to them with kindness, she recognizes the same wonder in their eyes that were in his when they first met.

Sometimes it hurts, other times it brings her joy.

They knew him longer than she did. They looked up to him as an older brother. They tell her stories about Nux that make her laugh, like how he used to wrestle them and play dead as they pounded on him with their little fists. It becomes clear to her that Nux had quite an influence on the younger generation. They held him in high prestige, even if he was just another pawn in the eyes of everyone else.

They ask for the story of his death over and over, as if it’s some kind of fairytale.

“I witnessed him.” She says.

“Lucky.” One whispers.

“He didn’t do it to get into Valhalla. He did it to save us.” She tells them. Their eyes grow large. Dying to spare a life was a unfamiliar concept to them.

“Because he loved you? Like he loved us?” Another boy chirps.

Capable smiles, feeling herself start to tear up. “Yes. Exactly.”

\---

The older War Boys are resistant to their new rule at first. Their leader is dead but their brother in arms went to Valhalla for the wives, not for Joe. Surely this must mean something.

The Pups, however, switch allegiance immediately. Capable is Nux’s friend. Capable saved his life. Capable witnessed him.

She makes a small grave for Nux, though she has no body to entomb. Instead, the War Pups bring her things attributed his life to bury in his place. His favorite socket wrench, one shoe with the sole falling off, a rag dirtied with motor oil. To anyone else they would seem like mundane junk, but the Pups carry them with such awe and reverence, as if they are sacred relics.

When one hands her a tin of beautiful glass marbles, she asks if they really want to part with it.

“They’re his.” The boy replies. “I’m sure he misses them.”

She nods, and wraps it with the other mementos in the small scratchy blanket that once belonged to him.

Capable keeps for herself the pair of gloves with his name clumsily stitched in. They’re a bit large on her hands, but she will use them for gardening.

She will plant a seed in his honor, perhaps even a tree, and watch it grow big and strong. She will nurture it and care for it with the same compassion she showed him.

When flowers bloom she will weave them into a wreath and bring it to his shrine, showing him the wonderful things his sacrifice allowed.

Without Nux, there’d be no seeds to plant. Without Nux, there’d be no second chance for the Earth. He will live eternal, if not in Valhalla then in this new world he helped create, Capable making sure his name is never lost to the sands of time.

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like something a little more happy, please check out my other Fury Road drabble "First Rain".


End file.
